NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — U.S. Senator Mark Warner got an earful from Hampton Roads military families over the issue of privatized military housing
Last week, Senator Tim Kaine did the same.
The tours came after numerous reports of hazardous living conditions at privatized housing units on and near bases across the country. Investigations revealed homes had mold, water leaks, and rodent and insect infestations.
At a roundtable meeting organized by Warner, a Navy wife who only identified herself by a first name, Bobbi, brought photographs.
"And you can probably see the mold from there," she said. "These are maggots that fell out of ceiling fan onto my bed."
Navy wife Whitney Jones said it seems like nobody from property management listens to tenant's complaints.
"My concern is it just seems to be an experience of profiteering," said Jones."They're getting a lot of money from the military but not upholding the maintenance issues."
Navy wife Rachel expressed her frustration.
"When is enough?" she asked. "How many people are going to suffer until these companies take care of these conditions and make it safe for us as families and service members to live in?"
Warner heard story after story of problems with privatized military housing units, the main one being indifference.
"I think it's really disheartening because it's the same story, over and over again," said Navy wife Savannah Beagles. "And just a lot of people dealing with mold. And you know, obviously, this housing situation is a crisis."
Navy wife Holly Ward is happy the story is being told.
"I'm glad that it's finally coming to a head and people are finally listening to us," Ward explained.
Warner, for one, said he's heard enough.
"My understanding is we've got eight different contractors who generally provide most of the housing across the country," he said. "My understanding, they've already been called on the carpet. But I want to see what their specific business plans are going to be on how they're going to address these issues. I mean, this is horrible."
More than half of the more than 14,000 military families that met the requirement of living in privatized military family housing currently, or within the past three years, who responded to a survey from January 30th to February 6th reported having a negative experience, according to data reported by the Military Family Advisory Network.
Warner and Kaine have introduced a bill to address those issues, titled the
"Ensuring Safe Housing for our Military Act."
The proposed legislation would create stronger oversight mechanisms, which will allow the military to withhold payments to contractors until the issues are resolved.
It would also require the military to withhold incentive fees to poorly performing contractors.